Pistol grip wire stripper



y 1965 D. OEHLERKING 3,182,532

PISTOL GRIP WIRE STRIPPER FilBd Oct. -1, 1962 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

May 11, 1965 D. OEHLERKING PISTOL GRIP WIRE STRIPPER 3 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed Oct. 1, 1962 5 5 mi m; M

May 11, 1965 n. OEHLERKING PISTOL GRIP WIRE STRIPPER Filed Oct. 1, 19623 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVNToR.

United States Patent 3,182,532. PISTOL GRIP WERE STRIPPER DeanOehlerking, Sycamore, IlL, assignor to Ideal Indus-= tries, Ind,Sycamore, 11L, a corporation of Delaware Filed Oct. 1, 1962, Ser. No.227,368 11 Claims. (El. 81-35) This invention relates to a pistol griptype precision wire stripper.

One purpose of the invention is a wire stripper of the type described inwhich the wire grippers remove the slug of insulation.

Another purpose is a Wire stripper insuring accuracy of alignment andstripping at nominal cost.

Another purpose is a wire stripper which removes the slug of insulationin a direction generally parallel to the stripper frame.

Another purpose is a wire stripper which permits the wire to be removedfrom the blades without any chance of damaging the stripped end of thewire.

Another purpose is a wire stripper of the type described utilizing apivotal trigger, with the trigger pivot point.

shifting during operation.

Other purposes will appear in the ensuing specification, drawings andclaims.

The invention is illustrated diagrammatically in the following drawingswherein:

FIGURE 1 is a side view of the stripper,

FIGURE 2 is an orthographic exploded view of a portion of the stripperframe illustrating the grippers and stripper blades,

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged view with the cover removed and portions brokenaway, of the stripper,

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged view, similar to FIGURE 3, showing the stripperin a closed or stripping position,

FIGURE 5 is a section along plane 55 of FIG- URE 3,

FIGURE 6 is a section along plane 6-6 of FIG- URE 3,

FIGURE 7 is a section along plane 7-7 of FIG- URE 3,

FIGURE 8 is a section along plane 88 of 1 16-,

URE 7,

FIGURE 9 is a section along plane 93 of FIG- URE 3, and

FIGURE 10 is a section along plane til--16 of FIG- URE 9.

The stripper may include a frame indicated generally at 10 having apistol grip type handle 12 at one end. The opposite end of the frame Itmay mount a trough indicated generally at 14, and shown particularly inFIG- URE 2. trough 14 is a slide 16 having a lower axially orlongitudinally extending runner 18 which is positioned in a groove 26 inthe bottom of the trough 14.

The slide 16 may have a transverse or laterally extending groove 22which receives a rear mounting member 23 of what may be termed thegripper 24. In practice, both grippers will move with slide 16. To closethe grippers, movable gripper 26, which also has a mounting member ingroove 22, moves toward the stationary gripper 24. A coil spring 25 maybe used to hold the grippers apart or in an open position. Gripper 24may have a lower runner 28 in alignment with runner 18 on the slide 16so that the grippers may be properly aligned when they move in thetrough 14.

Mounted at the outward end of the trough 14 is a pair of stripper blades30, with the right-hand blade, as illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 9, beingstationary, and the left-hand blade being movable. A coil spring 31 mayhold the blades apart or in the open position. The blades 30 may befixedto the trough 14 by means of a suitable pin or the like 32.

Positioned for slideable movement within the g 3,182,532 Patented May11, 1365 "ice Both the grippers and the stripper blades may beconventional. There will be holes indicated at 34 in FIG- URE 9 and at36 in FIGURE 7, with the size of the holes varying for different sizesof wire. The exact shape and configuration of the grippers and stripperblades form no part of the present invention.

Movable within a side groove 38 in the trough 14 and Within a similarside groove 46 in gripper 26 is a push rod 42, having a beveled orchamfered end 44. As the push rod moves toward the grippers and thestripper blades, the beveled end 44 will move the grippers and stripperblades to the closed position.

As illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4, the end of the push rod 42 oppositethe beveled end 44 may be pivotally connected to a trigger 46, as at 48.A spring or the like 50 may be connected to this end of the push rod andto the frame, to urge the push rod 42 away from the grippers andstripper blades.

Connected to the slide 16 is a pull rod 52, which may be screw-threadedinto the slide, and which may be encircled by a coil spring 54. Thisspring is seated, at one end, against a bracket or the like 56, forminga part of the slide 16, and is seated against a stationary spring seat58 at the other end. The pull rod 52 extends through an opening 60 inthe spring seat 58 and has a suitable knob or the like 62 at its farrear end, as illustrated in FIGURES 3 and 4.

The trigger 46 is pivoted to the push rod 43, at its upper end, asdescribed before. A link 64 is pivoted to the trigger 46 at a pointspaced from the pivot point 48, with the link 64 being pivoted at itsopposite end to a curved lever 66. The lower end of the curved lever 66is pivoted to the handle, as at68. The upper end of the curved lever 66has a yoke 70 which rises on opposite sides of th; pull rod 52 and has aprojection or the like 72 at one s1 e. face 74 of a latch member 76 asthe yoke, lever 66 and pull rod are moved toward the rear. The latch 76is biased, by a spring 89, in the upward direction in FIG- URE 3 and ismoved to the latched position of FIGURE 4 as the yoke and pull rod movetoward the rear. The rear end of the latch 7 6 has a notch 82 whichreceives the projection 72 when the pull rod and yoke are in the farright position of FIGURE 4. The projection 72 will snap into the notch82 and the latch will move up and hold the pull rod in this position andprevent the pull rod from moving forward or toward the left. The latch76 has a somewhat curved projection 84, at the end away from the notch82, which is positioned to be contacted by the upper end of the triggeras the trigger is released.

The stripper is completed by a rectangular projection 86 mounted withinthe handle which supports the latch member 76 and so aligns the latchmember as it is moved toward the rear of the stripper.

The use, operation and function of the invention are as follows:

A wire to be stripped is inserted into the frame or barrel in such amanner that the end to be stripped is suitably positioned in a propersized opening in the grippers and stripper blades. The trigger 46 isthen pulled or moved toward the handle. As the trigger is closed it willpivot about the connection between the link 64 and the trigger. The pushrod 42 will be driven toward the left, as shown in FIGURE 3, and thebeveled end 44 will close the grippers and the stripper blades againstthe action of the springs normally holding them in the open position.

As soon as the push rod has closed the grippers and the stripper blades,the pivot point for the trigger 46 will shift up to pivot point 48 orthe connection between the The projection 72 will ride along the uppersur-' trigger and the push rod. The push rod is now stationary. Afterthe pivot of the trigger has shifted, further inward movement of thetrigger will move link 64 inward which in turn will move lever 66 in aclockwise direction about its pivot point 68. The yoke 70 at the end ofthe lever 66 will move the pull rod to the right as shown in FEGURE 3.As the pull rod moves to the right it will pull the grippers and theslide 16 in the trough 14. The insulation has already been cut by thestripper blades. The grippers are removing the slug of insulation bypulling it off the end of the wire. In many prior strippers the bladesremove the slug of insulation. In this case it is the grippers thatremove the insulation. The lever 66 will continue its pivotal movementand will continue moving the pull rod until the projection 72 on theyoke 70 has moved down into the notch 82 at the end of latch 76.Normally the latch 76 is biased in an upward direction by spring 80.When the latch has been operated, the stripping operation has beencompleted and the slug of insulation has been removed.

When the trigger is released it will first pivot about the connectionwith link 64 and the push rod will be moved toward the right. The spring50 will draw the push rod back and as the push rod moves the blades 30will be opened. The stripped wire may now be removed. As the triggerpivots about this point, it will contact the end 84 of the latch andwill move the latch in a clockwise direction. The notch 82 will bedriven down below the projection 72 and will release the pull rod. Thespring 54 will then draw the pull rod to the left, as shown in FIGURE 3,and move the grippers back to their original position. As the grippersmove back, they will be released as they pass by the beveled end 44 ofthe push rod. It is necesary to hold the grippers back away from thewire until it has been removed from the stripper. Otherwise it would bepossible for the grippers to damage the stripped end of the Wire.

Of importance in the invention is the use of the trough and slide forguiding the grippers in the removal of the insulation slug. The grippersremain properly aligned during removal of the slug and there is nochance of bending or scraping the stripped end of the Wire.

Another important feature is the shifting pivot of the trigger. Thispermits a two-step operation in which the first step is the closing ofthe grippers and the stripper blades and the second step is the movementof the grippers in a direction parallel to the wire to carry off thestripped slug of insulation.

The invention is advantageous for precision stripping. Because thegripper removes the slug of insulation there will be no chance ofnicking the wire by the blades. Furthermore, the grippers are removed ina straight line which keeps the wire from being bent. The stripperblades themselves merely close to cut the insulation and then open topermit removal of the wire.

Whereas the preferred form of the invention has been shown and describedherein, it should be realized that there are many modifications,substitutions and alterations thereto Within the scope of the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. A wire stripper including a frame, a pistol grip type handle at oneend of said frame, a trigger pivoted to said frame adjacent the handle,a pair of Stripper blades mounted on said frame at the end away from thehandle, a trough mounted on said frame, a pair of grippers mounted insaid trough for slideable movement toward and away from said stripperblades, a push rod mounted in said frame for slideable movement towardsaid stripper blades and grippers, said push rod having a portionpositioned to contact said stripper blades and grippers to close them,said push rod being pivotally connected to said trigger, and means,operable by the trigger, for moving the grippers, when closed, in saidtrough away from the stripper blades to remove the insulation.

2. The structure of claim 1 further characterized in that said triggerpivots on said frame at one position while moving the stripper bladesand grippers to a closed position, and pivots at a second position onsaid frame when moving said grippers away from the stripper blades.

3. The structure of claim 1 further characterized in that the means formoving said grippers in the trough include a pull rod fixed to thegrippers and arranged for slideable movement in the frame.

4. The structure of claim 3 further characterized by a yoke pivoted tosaid trigger and in contact with said pull rod, said yoke beingeffective to move said pull rod in response to pivotal movement of thetrigger.

5. The structure of claim 4 further characterized in that said yoke ispositioned within said pistol grip type handle.

6. The structure of claim 3 further characterized by and including aspring encircling said pull rod and urging said grippers in a directiontoward said stripper blades.

7. The structure of claim 3 further characterized by and including alatch, pivoted to said handle, for holding said pull rod and gripperblades in position away from said stripper blades until the stripperblades have been opened by release of said trigger.

8. The structure of claim 7 further characterized by a yoke within saidhandle and pivoted to said trigger, said yoke being effective to movesaid pull rod and grippers in a direction away from the stripper blades,a portion of said yoke being in contact with said latch whereby thelatch holds the yoke, pull rod and grippers away from said stripperblades.

9. A wire stripper including a frame, a pistol grip type handle at oneend of said frame, a trigger pivoted to said frame adjacent the handle,a pair of stripper blades mounted on said frame at the end away from thehandle, one of said blades being fixed and the other being movable, atrough mounted on said frame, a pair of grippers mounted in said troughfor slideable movement toward and away from said stripper blades, one ofsaid grippers being movable toward the other, a push rod mounted in saidframe for slideable movement toward said stripper blades and grippers,said push rod having a portion positioned to contact said movablestripper blade and the gripper movable toward the other to close saidstripper blades and grippers, said push rod being pivotally connected tosaid trigger, and means, connected to the trigger, for moving thegrippers, when closed, in said trough, away from the stripper blades toremove the insulation from the Wire to be stripped.

10. The structure of claim 9 further characterized by and including aspring connected to said push rod and normally urging said push rod awayfrom said stripper blades and grippers.

11. The structure of claim 9 further characterized by spring meansnormally urging said stripper blades and grippers to the open position.

References Gited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS WILLIAM FELDMAN,Primary Examiner.

1. A WIRE STRIPPER INCLUDING A FRAME, A PISTOL GRIP TYPE HANDLE AT ONEEND OF SAID FRAME, TRIGGER PIVOTED TO SAID FRAME ADJACENT THE HANDLE, APAIR OF STRIPPER BLADES MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME AT THE END AWAY FROM THEHANDLE, A TROUGH MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME, A PAIR OF GRIPPERS MOUNTED INSAID TROUGH FOR SLIDEABLE MOVEMENT TOWARD AND AWAY FROM SAID STRIPPERBLADES, A PUSH ROD MOUNTED IN SAID FRAME FOR SLIDEABLE MOVEMENT TOWARDSAID STRIPPER BLADES AND GRIPPERS, SAID PUSH ROD HAVING A PORTIONPOSITIONED TO CONTACT SAID STRIPPER BLADES AND GRIPPERS TO